Toguz Korgool: Kazakh Mancala

Toguz Korgool (Тоғызқұмалақ / Togyzkumalak) is Kazakhstan's official national mind sport — a two-player seed-sowing strategy game played across Central Asia for centuries, built here to the letter of the Kazakhstan Ministry of Sport's official ruleset. HOW IT'S PLAYED Each side has 9 pits (otau) holding 9 seeds apiece, plus a kazan to collect what you capture. Pick a pit and sow its seeds one by one around the board — a pit holding just one seed sows that single seed forward alone instead of reseeding itself. Land your last seed in an opponent's pit that now holds an even count of seeds, and you sweep the whole pit into your kazan. Watch for the tuzdyk: land a third seed in the right opponent pit and claim it as a permanent collector — every seed landing there for the rest of the game redirects straight to your kazan, one tuzdyk per player, maximum, exactly as the official rules…